Powder blue is ichy

fraglerock

fraglerock

Member
Hi all, OK I have a 75 gal reef and had a powder blue tang only he developed ich at first. I added a yellow eye tang that after two days or so started to see some ich on him so I put them both in the hospital with cooper. I used a mini heater that was supposed to heat the water to a couple degrees above room temp. Well it brought the water about 20 degrees above room temp.
Needless to say I noticed the problem too late

So I got another powder blue 5" in beautiful condition. In a few days he has white dots forming on his fins and body. All other fish and corals are doing great.
What should I do?
Thanks

Temperature: 79.0 F
Salinity: 1.0242 ppt
Nitrate: 20 ppm
pH: 8.13
Calcium: 400 mg/L
Iodine/Iodide: 0.04 mg/l
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member

First and in the future...use a QT..
..you should have learned your lesson the first time.
Second..once ich is in the tank, and a reef tank at that. It does not help to remove infected fish and treat them..the ich is already in the tank.
So here are your options for an infected reef tank..remove all fish from the DT for 6 to 8 weeks so the ich will die out without a host.
Or
Keep all fish healthy and happy for months on end until ich has no host and dies out.
I didn't have a spare tank large enough fo option number one...so I upped my temps to 82/84, because my Hippo tang (AKA ich magnet) liked it warm and it made him stronger to fight off ich.
I fed them a chunk of shrimp soaked in fresh garlic,. every other day..this also helped the immune system so the fish could fight off ich.
I also purchased two large cleaner shrimps, someone said they pick off parasites, so I figured it couldn't hurt.
It has been over 6 months and no sign of ich.
 
R

rcreations

Guest
A powder blue tang doesn't belong in a 75gal tank. Do some reading on this particular species of tangs. In the ocean the powder blue tang stakes out a HUGE territory and because of this, it is very easily stressed in our glass boxes. This fish needs a 6' tank or larger.
 
jackri

jackri

Active Member
First stop buying fish and introducing them to disease when you already have it. It's a parasite and yes you need to QT anything before it goes in your tank. Also now wait for the life cycle of ich to die off before introducing anything new and QT.
What other fish do you have? Odds are they are carrying ich to some degree whether you can see it or not.
 
deejeff442

deejeff442

Active Member
curious how can a fish fight off ich?does the diet make a shield on the fish and fins so the ich invert cant attach?i have never bought into good diet and garlic fight off ich.in the ocean the ich attaches to the fish for 5-7 days then drops off.there in the ocean being so large the ich has a harder time finding a host so the numbers are smaller.in a glass box itis very easy to find a host.what a good diet does is keep the fish healthy untill the life cycle of the ich drops off the fish but if the tank is left alone the ich will multiply and wham double trouble.i dont believe for a second raising the temp and feedin a diet that should be givin regularly anyway makes ich disapear.there are a couple diseases that look like ich and those go away with good water and diet but not ich.unless someone with real evidence can show me how higher temp and garlic will eliminate ich i dont believe it.
also i agree 100% minumum 125 gallon tank for any tang unless he is 1 inch or less .thats for short term .i have a few tangs in my 225 and really want to go bigger for them .they use up the whole tank.
stress kills.
to the o.p. dont get too insulted by the "help" here some of us including me get upset when we see something wrong going on and sometimes forget we were all there at one point .i remember a lfs selling me a butterflyfish for my 2 week old 45 gallon tank .them found out later it was a no no.
this was 25 yrs. ago and i didnt have this site or hell not sure the internet was even around then.man i feel old.just do the research and dont listen to the lfs they just want your cash.i would love to have alot more fish but either my tank isnt big eneough,they grow too big,or they wont get along .but thats just give and take with this hobbie.
good luck to ya.
 
saleensc405

saleensc405

Member
I QT'd my yellow and blue hippo tangs for two weeks and treated them with copper and after 2 weeks of being in my display tank, my fish now have ich. i dont know how its possible for them to have ich when they were in the QT for 2 weeks treated with copper.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by deejeff442
http:///forum/post/3165681
curious how can a fish fight off ich?does the diet make a shield on the fish and fins so the ich invert cant attach?i have never bought into good diet and garlic fight off ich.in the ocean the ich attaches to the fish for 5-7 days then drops off.there in the ocean being so large the ich has a harder time finding a host so the numbers are smaller.in a glass box itis very easy to find a host.what a good diet does is keep the fish healthy untill the life cycle of the ich drops off the fish but if the tank is left alone the ich will multiply and wham double trouble.i dont believe for a second raising the temp and feedin a diet that should be givin regularly anyway makes ich disapear.there are a couple diseases that look like ich and those go away with good water and diet but not ich.unless someone with real evidence can show me how higher temp and garlic will eliminate ich i dont believe it.
also i agree 100% minumum 125 gallon tank for any tang unless he is 1 inch or less .thats for short term .i have a few tangs in my 225 and really want to go bigger for them .they use up the whole tank.
stress kills.
to the o.p. dont get too insulted by the "help" here some of us including me get upset when we see something wrong going on and sometimes forget we were all there at one point .i remember a lfs selling me a butterflyfish for my 2 week old 45 gallon tank .them found out later it was a no no.
this was 25 yrs. ago and i didnt have this site or hell not sure the internet was even around then.man i feel old.just do the research and dont listen to the lfs they just want your cash.i would love to have alot more fish but either my tank isnt big eneough,they grow too big,or they wont get along .but thats just give and take with this hobbie.
good luck to ya.

I had ich...it killed almost but not all my fish..I dosed and tried everything on the market..even a water change would cause my little hippo tang to break out in what spots.
I did what I wrote, and since then I have even moved the tank to my new home, and no little white dots. No fish loss and the once tiny tang is now 3.5 and going strong. 2 years of ich in my reef tank...now I am free of it. That is all the "proof" I can offer, its a personal testimony.
 
fraglerock

fraglerock

Member
I will let you guys know if I have any luck with the heat and garlic.
I am setting up a QT and I will try and be more responsible in the way I approach this hobby. I did plan on trading the PB tang when he gets to big for my tank.
Thanks for the help.
 
nigerbang

nigerbang

Active Member
Originally Posted by fraglerock
http:///forum/post/3166133
:
Just kidding. I couldn't afford to feed it.

ive never fed a clam.. Much less one that big.. I guess you "feed" it calcium..
A PBT in a 75 is pushing it but 2 is just wrong... Powder blues are ich magnets anyways and being in a more confined space is going to further thier stress and onset ick again and again..
Garlic has never been shown to have a confirmed effect on ich.. One of those things.. Hell, Asprin has never been approved by the FDA either..
Garlic entices fish to eat and therfore "comforts" them where they can possibly strengthen the immune system to try and fight off the parasite from attacking.. As most parasites they attack when the potential host is in a weakend state as it makes for an easier target..
 
jackri

jackri

Active Member
Only other possibility is garlic irritates the ich. This hasn't been proven but a thought I've heard here and there.
 
fraglerock

fraglerock

Member
Originally Posted by jackri
http:///forum/post/3166144
If you think you have to feed it, seriously don't get it.
I was told to feed clams phytoplankton. When I stopped adding phytoplankton my clam closed till I added some it came back and opened wide. It needs nutrients like all filter feeders.
 
jackri

jackri

Active Member
As they near the 3" mark clams are almost entirely photosynthetic and don't require any special feedings. I've never fed any of my 3 clams directly in the last year and a half or added any phytoplankton to my tank.
 
deejeff442

deejeff442

Active Member
i would do hypo for the tang.tangs tend to get secondary infections from copper like fin rot.hypo is easier to monitor and the tank has to be left free of fish for 5-6 weeks anyway so,this timeframe is pretty much the same for hypo start to finish.
 
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